Written by Graeme on Wednesday, May 21st, 2025
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The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t get off to an ideal start, as they got absolutely blasted by the Florida Panthers.
0-13 in the ECF and you have to wonder how much that will weight on them. That’s a big mental block that they’ll be anxious to overcome in Game 2.
Goaltending was going to be a big factor for the Canes, so that doesn’t bode well for them.
The WCF starts tonight, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Edmonton Oilers.
Stars vs Oilers Series
Scott: The Oilers got here by beating the Kings in 6 games and then the Knights in 5 games.
McDavid and Draisaitl are both well over a point per game in the postseason. They also have gotten production from Bouchard, Perry, Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins and Kane.
As always with the Oilers it comes down to goaltending as Skinner was the starter but lost out to Pickard for 7 games but Skinner is back and has had back to back shutouts.
The Stars beat the Avalanche in 7 in the first round and the Presidents Trophy winning Jets in 6 games in the second round.
Rantanen has been amazing for the Stars and he can take over a series. Harley, Hintz, Johnston, Granlund and Heiskanen have been their point producers. Duchene, Seguin, Benn and Steel are capable and have another step to take.
Oettinger have played in all games for the Stars this postseason and has a .919 save percentage and a 2.47 GAA.
There will be plenty of star power on display in this series. One advantage I see and one that will surely have an impact on this series is the goaltending. Oettinger is far better than either of the Oilers goalies and is the reason I see the Stars moving on to the Stanley Cup finals.
Stars win series
Graeme: As Scott said – so much of this is going to be about the Oilrs goaltending. Skinner was the hero the last two games – can he continue to be that way? The Oilers adjusted quite well to him in net which was the key there.
Looking at the metrics for the playoffs – Oilers better CF% and FF% by a decent shout. Scored more, conceded more, better xGF and xGA. The xGA one is very interesting as the Stars with a 2.83 GA/60 have an XGA/60 of 3.44. Oilers are a beast on SCGF.
What that all says to me is the Oilers – unlike the Canes – won’t be relying on goaltending. Don’t get me wrong – that is a bonus for them and could win them some key games – but it’s all about that electric offense, and the quantity of chances the Stars concede.
Oilers to win the series
Game One – just entertain me!
I think this is the one current series that will be based on high quality hockey. Too soon to catch patterns, I’m not betting today.
Prediction: the Western Conference takes the Stanley Cup. Both Edmonton and Dallas have great depth and great talent, with VERY obvious ambition to drink from the silver.
Florida has had it EASY with these pretender teams who quit themselves, and I haven’t yet seen Florida truly perform great. So they forecheck; what team from bantam on up, doesn’t do that? Carolina looked completely baffled, or actually resigned. The Florida forecheckers lose 80% of their threat power instantly if the other team keeps their eyes open, coordinates together and skates. Carolina had 5 so-called pro skaters running around like Secretariat with a bandana over his face; “where the F am I supposed to be going, and where is everyone?” So Bobrovsky is a half-decent goalie; the silly Carolina shooters shot 95% of all shots directly into Bobo’s chest instead of open twine, and they rarely tried to use their teammates around the net.
Yesterday, Carolina ran around intimidated, undermining themselves at every turn. Florida played adequately. That series may be over in 4 games. Carolina did what all bad teams do; constant bad passes, a great excess of turnovers, relying on panic dumps of the puck instead of looking around for trying to use their teammates, and the old dump-and-chase across the blue line used constantly which just gave Florida the puck. Carolina wasn’t skating fast or using their sticks, so Florida got out of their own zone with little effort. Carolina shots towards the net had no follow-up efforts. Is Carolina a suburb of Toronto? Did they hire Matthews and Marner as Strategic Advisors? So disappointing to see that this late into the hockey season!